BUIES CREEK — Ryan Chasse has been honored by the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) as a 2019 Second Team Freshman All-American, as announced by the organization Monday afternoon.
The honor is Chasse’s second Freshman All-America recognition as he was named a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) Freshman All-American last week.
Chasse joins Matthew Barefoot as the second Figthing Camel to receive an All-America award from the NCBWA as Barefoot received first-team honors as an outfielder in 2017.
A total of 32 standout freshmen college baseball players from every part of the country are featured on the 2019 NCBWA Freshman All-American Team. Additionally, it features players from 30 different schools and 16 different conferences.
Chasse is one of nine conference “Rookie of the Year” winners to appear on the list, and he is one of 12 all-conference honorees.
Following the 2019 regular season, Chasse was tabbed the Big South Freshman of the Year, making him the second consecutive Campbell player to earn Big South Freshman of the Year honors, and the third player in Campbell baseball history to receive the league’s rookie of the year award (Logan Bender, 2018; Reggie Davis, 1994). Also, he was one of two freshmen to be named First Team All-Big South this season.
The lefty from Apex finished the regular season as the Big South’s leader in ERA with a 2.60 overall mark (he finished 2019 with a 2.95 ERA, third best in the league). His 1.91 ERA in conference play also led the league, and his seven conference wins ranked tied for second. Chasse limited all opponents to a .224 batting average, and in conference action, he held Big South batters to a league-low .150 batting average.
Chasse compiled a 7-2 record over his rookie campaign, racking up 58 strikeouts with 27 walks over 76.1 innings. The rookie finished second on the team in wins, third in strikeouts and first in starts (15).The two-time Big South Freshman of the Week was also named the Big South Pitcher of the Week once during the season. He earned the league’s top weekly pitching honor after retiring the first 20 batters he faced on May 5 against Charleston Southern, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. He needed just 116 pitches to toss a complete game, making him the only Big South freshman to accomplish the feat in 2019, and the first to do so in almost exactly two years (May 6, 2017; High Point’s Drew Daczkowski in a 4-1 win over Charleston Southern).
Photo by Bennett Scarborough
